Wednesday, April 9, 2014

BLM Action on Bundy Ranch, Part III

Militias ‘mobilizing’ to support embattled Clark County rancher in clash with federal rangers

Courtesy video

Video footage shows son of Cliven Bundy being shot with stun gun.Krissy
Thornton, right, looks at blood from a taser wound on Ammon Bundy near
Bunkerville, Nev. Wednesday, April 9, 2014. Bundy was tased by Bureau of
Land Management law enforcement officers. Bundy is the son of Cliven
Bundy. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Buy PhotoJim
Lardy, 49, of Philipsburg, Mont., a member of the West Mountain
Rangers, poses holding his LR-308 rifle. He is one of a handful of
militia who have come to the Bundy ranch from across the U.S. The
militia members said they don't want violence, but are there to protect
the Bundy family from "tyranny." (Ben Botkin/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Tyson
Houston, nephew of Cliven Bundy, cries after speaking at a public
meeting in the Moapa Valley Community Center in Overton, Nev. Wednesday,
April 9, 2014. The meeting was about the roundup by the Bureau of Land
Management's roundup of what they call "trespass cattle" run by Cliven
Bundy in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. (John
Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Krissy
Thornton, right, and Burgundy Hall protest with others near
Bunkerville, Nev. Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The group is protesting the
Bureau of Land Management's roundup of what they call "trespass cattle"
run by Cliven Bundy in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las
Vegas. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Kellie
Houston, neice of Cliven Bundy, cries after speaking at a public
meeting in the Moapa Valley Community Center in Overton, Nev. Wednesday,
April 9, 2014. The meeting was about the roundup by the Bureau of Land
Management's roundup of what they call "trespass cattle" run by Cliven
Bundy in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. (John
Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A
crowd of people spill out the door at a public meeting in the Moapa
Valley Community Center in Overton, Nev. Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The
meeting was about the roundup by the Bureau of Land Management's roundup
of what they call "trespass cattle" run by Cliven Bundy in the Gold
Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. (John Locher/Las Vegas
Review-Journal)

From near and wide, armed men are trickling toward Cliven Bundy’s
ranch, where the embattled rancher’s fight with the federal government
has become a rallying cry for militia groups across the United States.

On
Wednesday, that dispute teetered at the edge of deadly conflict, when
Cliven Bundy’s family members and supporters scuffled with rangers from
the Bureau of Land Management sent to protect the ongoing federal
roundup of Bundy’s cattle on public land.

One of Bundy’s seven sons was
shot with a stun gun, and Bundy’s sister was knocked to the ground, but
no one was seriously hurt and no arrests were made.By late
Wednesday, three militia members — two from Montana and one from Utah —
had arrived at the ranch 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Other militia
groups have inundated the Bundy household with calls and pledges to
muster at the site. Their stated goal: to protect the Bundys from
tyranny.They say they are prepared for armed confrontation, but they insist if bloodshed happens, they will not be the instigators.Ryan
Payne and Jim Lardy, members of the West Mountain Rangers, made the
12-hour drive from western Montana on Tuesday night.

Payne is also a
coordinator with Operation Mutual Aid, a national association that
describes itself as a coalition of state militias.“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” Payne said in an interview at the ranch.Payne
didn’t put a specific estimate on how many militia members may come,
but he said the groups expected are from places like New Hampshire,
Texas,and Florida and could number in the hundreds.“We need to be the barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants,” he said. “Expect to see a band of soldiers.”Payne,
30, and Lardy, 49, both wore holstered handguns as they spoke, but they
downplayed the display of firepower. They wear their weapons daily.The goals, they say, are for no one to be harmed, the Bundy family to be protected, and the Bundy property restored.For
now, they will camp on the Bundy ranch. The issue, they say, isn’t
about cattle or grazing rights. It’s about constitutional rights, they
said.“We’re not anti-government,” said Lardy, who cuts firewood for a living. “We’re anti-corrupt government.”Stephen
Dean, 45, an artist from Utah, said he made the trip in hopes of
heading off another Ruby Ridge or Waco.

A member of the People’s United
Mobile Armed Services, he said he also carries weapons more powerful
than his firearms: a camera and the Internet.

Those tools will document
the plight of the Bundy ranch and bring the issue to light, he said.
“I’m here to see it does happen differently.”Serious bloodshed
was narrowly avoided earlier in the day, when a BLM ranger shot Ammon
Bundy with a stun gun during a heated confrontation a few miles from the
ranch house.A video posted to YouTube
shows a group of angry protesters and law enforcement officers yelling
and threatening each other as trucks involved in the roundup attempt to
drive through.

The officers have their stun guns drawn and one is trying
to push the crowd back with a barking dog on a leash.Cheryl
Teerlink, who witnessed the altercation, said Ammon Bundy was hit by a
stun gun in the arm, chest and neck, but he shook off the first attempt
to incapacitate him. “I pulled the tasers out of him,” she said.

Shortly before that, Cliven Bundy’s sister, Margaret Houston, was thrown to the ground by a BLM officer, Teerlink said.

The
incident unfolded near the intersection of Gold Butte Road and state
Route 170, where protesters gathered after they saw BLM vehicles,
including construction equipment, coming down from the range.

The
Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service released a
statement late Wednesday confirming that one protester had been stunned.

The agencies said the incident started when “a BLM truck driven by a
non-law enforcement civilian employee assisting with gather operations
was struck by a protester on an ATV, and the truck’s exit from the area
was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle.”

According
to the statement, peaceful protests have “crossed into illegal
activity” in recent days, with people “blocking vehicles associated with
the gather, impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt
threats to government employees.”“These isolated actions that
have jeopardized the safety of individuals have been responded to with
appropriate law enforcement actions,” the statement said.No one
from either agency was made available to answer questions from the
Review-Journal.

A scheduled conference call with reporters set for 3
p.m. Wednesday was postponed by two hours and then canceled altogether
by the BLM and Park Service.Federal law enforcement officers,
also heavily armed, are providing tight security to contract cowboys
from Utah who were hired by the government for almost $1 million to
round up as many as 900 cattle that Bundy has left to roam on federal
land [after] not paying grazing fees for the past 20 years.Two
federal court orders issued within the last year called for the
rancher’s livestock to be impounded from a vast swath of mountains and
desert.

That roundup began Saturday on almost 600,000 acres of land
closed to the public during the operation.As of Wednesday, 352 animals had been rounded up amid mounting criticism from some Nevada officials.Gov.
Brian Sandoval on Tuesday slammed the BLM for creating an “atmosphere
of intimidation” and called on the agency to dismantle two so-called
“First Amendment areas” it set up for demonstrators well away from any
roundup activity.The former federal judge said he told the agency “that such conduct is offensive to me and countless others.”“No
cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor
the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all
Nevadans,” the Republican governor said.On Wednesday morning,
before news broke of the scuffle between protesters and the BLM, Sen.
Dean Heller, R-Nev., sent out a statement expressing “great
disappointment with the way that this situation is being handled.”He
said he spoke to newly confirmed BLM director Neil Kornze and “told him
very clearly that law-abiding Nevadans must not be penalized by an
over-reaching BLM.”“After hearing from local officials and
residents, and receiving feedback from the Nevada Cattlemen’s
Association in a meeting this morning, I remain extremely concerned
about the size of this closure and disruptions with access to roads,
water and electrical infrastructure,” Heller said.

“I will continue to
closely monitor this situation, and urge the BLM to make the necessary
changes in order to preserve Nevadans’ constitutional rights.”Kornze
is a Nevada native who spent eight years as a senior policy adviser for
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid before joining the BLM.Reached
for comment before Wednesday’s altercation between rangers and
demonstrators, spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said: “Sen. Reid hopes the
trespassing cattle are rounded up safely so the issue can be resolved.”Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean.

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